


Time to Retire...

by lasairfhiona



Category: CSI: Miami, Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-10-09 09:59:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10409598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasairfhiona/pseuds/lasairfhiona
Summary: A rough case give Horatio the prompting he needs to make the decision to retire.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sharpiesgal (TigerLily)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigerLily/gifts).



> Many thanks to SHARPIESGAL for the beta read and writing the first section after I told her what the story was about.

He laid the crime scene photos faced down on the light table and walked out of the room .He couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't take the needless destruction of young lives anymore.

Walking down to the Ballistics Lab, he hoped he wouldn't find Calleigh there because he didn't want her to talk him out of resigning. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she wasn't there. Unclipping his gun he locked it in the gun safe, then he removed his badge and placed it on her desk.

***^^^***

Horatio pulled into the drive and sat with his hands on the steering wheel, taking a deep breath before getting out of the Mustang. He bypassed the house, heading straight toward the beach, shedding his clothes on the way. He had no intention of ever putting on a suit ever again. He was done. Finished. They say every cop has their breaking point, this case had pushed him way past his. The final straw was the little girl dying in his arms. 

Stepping out of his boxers and trousers, he left them lay near the edge of the water as he walked into the water. The ocean was always his place to retreat when he needed to think. Today, it felt like the salt water was cleansing him, washing away the blood he felt that still covered him, even though he had showered and changed clothes. 

The water swirled around him the further he got into the surf line until he finally dove under a wave instead of letting it crash into his body. He swam underwater until he could feel his lungs burning and he finally came up from air. He'd passed the first turnaround buoy but he could see the second up ahead. He set out at a much faster than normal pace, needing to feel the burn in his muscles and he pushed himself. He continued back and forth between the two buoys until he wasn't sure he could even remain afloat. Even knowing he was at the end of his stamina he flipped and set off to the far buoy for yet another lap. 

He didn't notice the swimmer next to him until he hit the last turnaround buoy. It was then he saw the blonde head keeping pace with him. As much as he wanted to stop and collapse into those arms, he knew he couldn't, he had to make it back to shore on his own power. He didn't want to lean on Trip now, because he knew he would be leaning on his lover when he told Trip what happened. 

When he reached the first buoy, he slowed down and swam until he could easily stand. Except as soon as he got his legs under him, a wave came along and knocked him off his feet. If it hadn't been for Trip’s arm shooting around his waist, stabilizing him, he'd have been knocked about in the surf. “Thanks,” he muttered as they headed toward the beach. He felt rather than heard Trip’s reply as the arm around his waist tightened.

Without the water to help keep him upright, Horatio realized just how much of his energy he'd expended. Without Trip’s arm around him, he'd never been about to walk any further. As it was, he wasn't sure he'd be able to make it up the beach to the bungalow. 

“Come on Horatio, you just have to make it to the lounger. Don't make me throw you over my shoulder.”

He tried to smile at the image of Trip carrying him, but he was too far gone physically. Mentally, he wasn't sure how he'd made it to The Keys; he was on auto pilot the whole drive. 

When they made it to the lounger, the fact he fell onto it was a sign of his exhaustion. “How did you know?” he asked when Trip settle down next to him and pulled him into his arms. There is no reason for Trip to be home from the marina this early in the day. 

“Calleigh called. She said she found your badge on her desk.”

Horatio sighed, “I can't do it anymore. I just can't. That last little girl died in my arms. She bled out from her injuries from being raped over and over and I couldn't help her. No one could. There were five kids Trip. Five. They will never grow up, never play ball or dance ballet, they will never fall in love. I can't take seeing the brutality waged on other people anymore.” He buried his face in Trip’s chest and let his silent tears fall. He felt his lovers arms tighten around him before gently caressing his back as he finally released everything he'd been holding inside about the case. 

“I'll support you on whatever you decide to do. I'll definitely look forward to you being home all the time if you do decide it's time to retire.”

“It is. I'm done. I can't do this anymore,” he said looking up at Trip, resting his chin on Trip’s chest. “You sure you won't get sick of me being around all the time?”

“Nope. Not in the least. Just think of all those projects you keep wanting to do. Now you'll have time to do them.” 

“True,” Horatio conceded. He dropped a kiss on Trip’s chest and smiled at the quiet whimper he heard Trip make before he found himself pulled upward for a gentle kiss.

“Of course the upside to you being home all the time is that we can have sex whenever we want and my hand won't get the workout it normally does when you're gone,” Trip remarked when they came up for air.

This brought a full on laugh from Horatio. “You always find the bright spot don't you?”

“I try.”

Settling back down with his head on Trip's chest he listened to his lover’s heartbeat. Yes. He could get very use to staying home all the time and having the time with Trip he planned to when they first got together. Tomorrow he'd make the calls to start the paperwork to officially retire. It was long past time. There would be no more calling him in for special cases that turned into him coming in to cover people's vacations or whatever reason they had to drag him back to the lab. He could plan for the rest of his life the way he wanted it to be. With Trip.


End file.
